Amazigh Cultural Tours International & Zig Zag Tours Morocco

18/11/2024

Back to the beautiful view from my Studio Al F***j 🤩

16/11/2024

It’s a wrap! Our last tour for the season comes to an end. Thanks to our guest artist Victoria Findlay Wolfe who led this Textiles Tour. A great time was had by all and we look forward to Victoria’s return to lead our first tour in 2025!

16/11/2024

13/11/2024

I had to have another play in that space…an old Riad palace in Fes that is now a guesthouse. It has seen better days and is under-utilised, waiting for an entrepreneurial spirit to restore it to its original glory, but still awe inspiring.

12/11/2024

Today we visited the Roman ruins of and I think there was plenty of inspiration for our group of textiles quilt artists to draw on, both the ancient mosaics pieced from coloured stone as well as the surrounding landscape.

11/11/2024

I don’t usually do selfies but we are staying in an incredible old building full of mirrors in Fes. It’s a palatial old Riad with a courtyard that has a huge pool that takes up the whole space. There is an olive tree in each corner, in the pool, not submerged but built in and surrounded by water. Smaller rooms around the space have a range of spa baths and small private seating areas, massage rooms and a bar…and more and more mirrors. Everything is decorated in traditional styles and the craftsmanship is amazing 🤩 I think I will go back and look at the reflections in the water next.

10/11/2024

It’s very rare to see water on the ground in the Sahara. There is a flush of green vegetation on the flat ground surrounding the Erg Chebbi dunes and a stream that continues to flow after the major rain event 6-8 weeks ago. And camels of course - are they real?

09/11/2024

Visiting the Khamlia Gnawa musicians in the Sahara of southern Morocco is a favourite stop on our and I always take the opportunity to do a quick sketch of these handsome fellows. They are a moving subject, literally and emotionally. The story of their origins, descendants of slaves, or at best, migrants seeking a better life, is moving. And as they share their story and perform their music I try to capture a glimpse In charcoal on paper.

05/11/2024

Storks nests in Morocco are always perched atop of a variety of structures and often on the top of mosques! The nests are huge, as are the birds and the tiered spire of the mosque acts as an anchor.

04/11/2024

Victoria Findlay Wolfe made a wonderful presentation about her work and the project she will lead for this tour. We will be creating a ‘memory quilt’ which will be a small textile based work incorporating fabric, appliqué, stitching, embroidery and drawing. We will be drawing inspiration from our travels through Morocco gathering images, motifs and design elements as we go.

03/11/2024

Our first full day in Marrakech with our Textiles tour with guest artist Victoria Findlay Wolfe and a lovely group of art quilt enthusiasts. Here we are at Jardin Majorelle. Tomorrow we head south over the High Atlas Mountains!

01/11/2024

On the drawing board at my studio in Marrakech is a work in progress…drawing the immense view that I often photograph. Urban development makes it an ever changing landscape and this drawing has been on the go for several years as I grab a bit of time every now and then to work on it. Scroll across for some details. A sudden change prompted the red overlay of a new development that sadly took out an old grove of date palms and olive trees right in the centre of the composition!. It’s prime realestate…
The Senegal parrot was a rare visitor to the studio balcony during the pandemic.

31/10/2024

Farewell to our most recent Textiles Tour guest artist - seen here emerging from one of the narrowest passages in the Fes Medina! Hollis is a renowned artist whose work incorporates painting, dyeing and complex stitching. As we traipsed around Morocco Hollis led a group of art enthusiasts through some of the finer points of refining composition and design in image making. Scroll across to see some of her superb work.

31/10/2024

in Marrakech! Victoria is our next guest artist on tour in Morocco - here to explore the culture, landscape, history and TEXTILES!. We will be doing a lot of traveling from Marrakech over the - the high, the middle and the low! To the Sahara, Fes, Chefchaouen and more…
Meeting traditional artisans is a big focus.
Along the way we will create a ‘memory quilt’ under Victoria’s guidance - a small project to respond to the experience in a creative way. Travel with an arts focus - it’s a great way to bring together a gathering of likeminded people. We look forward to another great trip, the last for this season - autumn in Morocco.

22/10/2024

Sunset over the blue city of Chefchaouen 🤩

20/10/2024

There is still water on the ground in the Sahara 4 weeks after the rain. Such an unusual sight!

19/10/2024

Here we are in the Sahara with our latest Texiles Tour and guest artist Hollis Chatelain who took this fabulous photo!

Sunset in the Sahara!
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18/10/2024

Still looking great in the early morning light…